Fernando Allende

Fernando Allende breaks the mold. Allende, who reigns as the top box office draw in Latin America, is different; he is the first Latin Adonis to enjoy tremendous success in each of today's top entertainment careers film, television, producer, and as a recording artist and entertainer. Born in Mexico City (his father is Mexican, his mother Cuban and grandparents are Spanish and Puerto Rican). Allende started singing folk tunes when he was seven. By the time he was 15, his intense good looks landed him his first staring role in the film, Maria, opposite Tyrone Power's daughter, Taryn. It was the first of 20 films which have brought him 13 awards. A law career, which he originally intended to follow and pursued at Mexico City's LaSalle University, went by the board as more and more acting offers came his way. Before the pull of Hollywood proved irresistible, Allende also starred in hundreds of serial episodes of Spanish dramatic television. He also had a dozen best selling records, gold single, had his own variety specials and won the Hispanic equivalent of the Oscars and the Emmy in the same year. In 1979, presuming his background would provide a good entry to the US entertainment business; Allende cleaned out his savings account and moved to Hollywood. "I thought my background would open doors", he recalls. Nearly two years filled with knocking on an endless succession of doors and hours of acting, speech, yoga, and singing lessons were to eat up all those savings before he got his first acting job this side of the border. But for Fernando, the wait and the sacrifices were worth it when he was selected to star opposite Joanne Woodward in ABC's The Streets of Los Angeles. And the part opened Hollywood's doors. He immediately segued into a pilot (The Phoenix for ABC), his first English speaking film (Heartbreaker), and his US TV series, "Flamingo Road" where he steamed up the screen for a year and a half as Morgan Fairchild's lover. Allende was quickly signed to be a celebrity spokesman for the Milk Advisory Board's all media advertising in English and Spanish. Then he went on to tape 190 hours of a top Hispanic television show plus making his own special, featuring songs from his first RCA album. A highlight in any actor's career came next. Fernando was signed to star in the plum role of George Mellis, the "Golden-Greek" playboy-sadist in CBS his mini-series, Master of the Game, which broke the stereotype and vastly expanded his acting career. Since then his television career has gone form one success to another. He starred opposite Karen Black in HBO's new series The Hitchhiker; co-starred in more episodic television including Murder She Wrote, Hart to Hart, Glitter, and appeared in an unforgettable episode of Miami Vice. Most recently, television audiences have enjoyed his presence in ABC's Murder in Three Acts (with Peter Ustinov and Tony Curtis) and NBC's The Alamo.